Why I'm ALL IN on Northland FC...

.... and you should too

I'll be honest with you just months ago I couldn't have named you a single Northland FC player. I was the the kind who shows up every four years, yells at a screen in a bar, and disappears again until the next tournament. That's it. That was me. Then the World Cup came and I had this weird itch. I didn't want the feeling to go away. So I started looking around for something local, something real, something I could actually walk to instead of watching through a screen from three time zones away. That's how I found Northland FC. Third season in existence. No decades of history, no legacy banners hanging anywhere. Just a club still being built, right now, by the people who show up for it.

And who shows up? Mostly the parents. That's the honest truth of grassroots soccer at this level. Don't let that soften what this actually is, this is adult men's football. Full ninety minutes, full field, IFAB Laws of the Game, seven substitutes. But it's still somebody's kid out there, all grown up now.

So the parents in the stands aren't watching a rec league, they're watching the same kid they used to drive to practice, still out there, still competing for real silverware . That's not a tagline, that's just what's actually happening on that sideline every week.

Every guy on that pitch knows there is a point where the soccer is supposed to stop — the last high school match, the last club season, the last collegiate battle. Their is no roster spot waiting after that. For most guys, that's just it. Boots go in the closet. Northland FC is what didn't, doesn't, let that happen.

Nobody's making money doing this. This isn't a corporation running a franchise. It's somebody with a regular 9-to-5 who pours what's left of themselves after work into building something real for the Northland and Gladstone community, because they love the game and they wanted a real competitive outlet for it around here. That's the whole operation. No shareholders, no marketing department. Just one person's passion turned into an actual club, an actual roster, an actual title race.

That matters more than it sounds like it should, because this is proper non-league football in America. Not a beer league, Not a pickup game with a keg on the sideline. Northland plays in the Select League, the premier tier of Kansas State Soccer, and we're coming off winning the 2026 Kansas State Cup, which already has us on the road to the USASA National Championship next year. Win this league and there's an even bigger door that opens: US Open Cup qualifying, the same pathway that's put clubs our size on the pitch against MLS opposition. That's the level of ambition sitting underneath a match most people would drive right past without a second look. This is a genuinely good team, still small, still building its identity, still mostly just parents on a sideline by a walking trail. I find that combination kind of thrilling, honestly.

The Math We're All Doing in Our Heads Today

Okay — the table. I'm still learning how this works, so let me think out loud. Their are no playoffs here for when it's done it is DONE.

Emporia FC leads the league at 21 points. Merriam sits second at 20. We're third at 15, with a ceiling of 24 if we win out, not just win, but win by two goals or more in every match we've got fight left.

But today isn't only about us. While we're taking on Lone Jack, Real Overland Park is playing Emporia, and we need Real OP to get the win. Keeping Emporia parked at 21 instead of pulling further away. Then next week, Emporia and Merriam play each other, and here's the part that took me a minute to wrap my head around: Northland FC actually needs Emporia FC to win that one. A Merriam loss there, plus Merriam dropping points to Southside this weekend, is the only path that keeps this alive for us. It's a strange thing, quietly rooting for a rival to beat another rival. Welcome to scoreboard watching, I guess.

Lone Jack Is Today

None of the other results matter if we don't take care of our own business first. This is the game that's actually in our hands.

I'll be out there early, standing near midfield like I always do now. Come find your spot. No tickets, no merch table, nothing to buy. Just come stand on the grass and be loud for a club that's still figuring out who it's going to be.

Where We Play

We play at Happy Rock, tucked into the East side with MCC walking trail running right along the grounds. There's no gate, nothing to buy, no concession stand hustling you for eight dollars. You just show up and stand where you want and support.

Whoever picked this location nailed it. It feels like a neighborhood park that host real matches. People walking dogs slow down to watch. Kids on bikes stop and stay for a half. It's the most honest setting soccer could ask for, and it's exactly where a club like this belongs.

Come on Northland.

FOR THE NORTHLAND!

UP NORTH!